18 May,2024 06:11 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
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High-energy campaigning ahead of fifth phase of Lok Sabha Elections 2024, including rallies and roadshows, ended at 6 pm on Saturday for 13 Lok Sabha seats in North Maharashtra and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. Polling for these seats will take place on May 20, the final round of the state's general elections.
In the fifth phase of Lok Sabha Elections 2024, 2.46 crore voters are eligible to vote for 264 candidates.
Union ministers and BJP leaders Piyush Goyal (Mumbai North), Bharati Pawar (Dindori), and Kapil Patil (Bhiwandi) are among the leading candidates. Other noteworthy candidates include Shiv Sena leader Shrikant Shinde (Kalyan), Mumbai Congress chairman Varsha Gaikwad, and BJP advocate Ujjwal Nikam, who will run in Mumbai North Central.
The constituencies up for votes in fifth phase of Lok Sabha Elections 2024 are Dhule, Nashik, Thane, Palghar, Mumbai North, Mumbai North West, Mumbai North East, Mumbai South Central, and Mumbai South.
Thane, Palghar, and Mumbai, which account for ten of the 13 seats, are part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), one of the country's most densely populated districts. Voting for the fifth phase of Lok Sabha Elections 2024 will take place from 7 am to 6 pm at 24,553 polling stations.
There are 2,46,69,544 registered voters, including 1,31,38,526 men, 1,15,28,278 women, and 2,740 of the third gender.
The race in Dhule is between the BJP and the Congress. In Dindori, the BJP is pitted against Sharad Pawar's NCP. In Nashik, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena and Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena (UBT) are competing.
Palghar's race is between the BJP and Sena (UBT), whereas Bhiwandi's primary challengers are the BJP and the NCP. Thane and Kalyan, both on Chief Minister Shinde's own turf, are prestige struggles for him. His close aide Naresh Mhaske and his son Shrikant Shinde are the Sena contenders for Thane and Kalyan, respectively.
Thackeray's party has fielded candidates in Mumbai South, Mumbai South Central, Mumbai North East, and Mumbai North West as part of a seat-sharing deal with Maha Vikas Aghadi partners, the NCP and Congress. Congress candidates are running in both Mumbai North Central and Mumbai North.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi campaigned in Kalyan and Dindori for the candidates of the BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP 'Mahayuti' coalition, as well as holding a roadshow in northeast Mumbai. Modi returned to Mumbai on Friday to address a rally at Shivaji Park. On the same day, the opposition group INDIA organised a rally at the Bandra Kurla Complex, which was attended by Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, Uddhav Thackeray, Sharad Pawar, and Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal.
On the final day of campaigning, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath hosted public rallies in Malegaon (Nashik district) and Palghar to support Mahayuti candidates.
